Special Premiere
Monday, April 16, 2012
$45 General / $40 ILCC Members
Film Screening
6:00 p.m.
AMC River East 21, 322 E. Illinois St.
Mariachi Gringo – Genre: Drama
US / Mexico, 2012, 107 min.
Director: Tom Gustafson
English and Spanish with subtitles
Suffocated by his bland small-town-life, Edward finds a kindred spirit in the elderly owner of the local Mexican restaurant, who becomes his musical mentor. After his mentor suffers a debilitating stroke, Edward is inspired to follow his dream. He sets off on a journey crossing cultural and geographical borders, where he soon discovers the richness and color of Mariachi music in Mexico.
Aburrido y sofocado con la rutina de su pequeño pueblo, Edward encuentra inspiración en un anciano propietario de un restaurante mexicano, quien se convierte en su mentor musical. Luego de que el anciano sufre un derrame cerebral, Edward se motiva para perseguir su sueño. Así se embarca en un viaje cruzando fronteras culturales y geográficas, y en el que pronto descubre la riqueza y el color de la música de mariachi en México.
Reception
8:30 p.m.
River East Arts Center, 435 E. Illinois St.
Sponsored by
Catered by
CHICAGO (March 27, 2012) – The 28th Annual Chicago Latino Film Festival (CLFF) will present the Chicago premiere of Tom Gustafson’s latest film, “Mariachi Gringo,” April 16 at the AMC River East 21, 322 E. Illinois St. The screening starts at 6 p.m. with a reception following at 8:30 p.m. at River East Arts Center, 435 E. Illinois. . Gustafson and co-screenwriter Corey James Krueckeberg are scheduled to attend. The Chicago premiere of Mariachi Gringo is sponsored by EC Charro Tequila and Victoria and is catered by St. Augustine College Culinary Arts Program.
Mariachi Gringo recently won the best Mexican picture award and the best actress award for Martha Higareda at the Guadalajara Film Festival. Partially shot in Illinois and starring Shawn Ashmore, Higareda and singer-songwriter Lila Downs, Mariachi Gringo tells the story of Edward (Ashmore) who, suffocated by his bland small-town-life, finds a kindred spirit in the elderly owner of the local Mexican restaurant, who becomes his musical mentor. After his mentor suffers a debilitating stroke, Edward is inspired to follow his dream of becoming a musician. He sets off on a journey across cultural and geographical borders, where he soon discovers the richness and color of Mariachi music in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Tom Gustafson made his feature directorial debut with the multi-award-winning Were the World Mine. His award-winning musical short, “Fairies,” has screened in over 75 international film festivals (including Tribeca) and aired on the Viacom network, Logo. He has worked as Key Additional Casting Assistant on the film Road to Perdition starring Tom Hanks and Paul Newman, and as Additional Casting Associate on Master & Commander starring Russell Crowe. He has taken on solo projects as Location Casting Director of Pirates of the Caribbean (Dead Man’s Chest and At World’s End), The Good Shepherd, The Weather Man and The Dark Knight.
Born in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada, Shawn Ashmore made his cinematic debut in 1991′s Married to It but it was his lead role in the made-for-TV Canadian movie Guitarman (1994) that drew the attention of critics and TV and film producers alike. He was cast by director Bryan Singer to play the then small role of Bobby Drake “Iceman” in X-Men (2000), which was later expanded in the sequels X2: X-Men United (2003, directed by Singer) and X-Men: The Last Stand (2006, directed by Brett Ratner). Ashmore also had the recurring role of Eric Summers in the WB series “Smallville.” He’s also appeared in The Ruins (2008) and Frozen (2010).
A rising star of Mexican cinema, Martha Higareda made her TV debut as hostess of Disney Channel’s “Zapping Zone” in 1999 and her big screen debut in Amarte duele in 2002, winner of the Audience Choice Award at the 2004 Chicago Latino Film Festival. Additional film credits include: Casa de los Babys (2003, directed by John Sayles), Siete Días (2005), Niñas Mal (2007, reuniting her with Amarte duele director Fernando Sariñana); 2008’s Street Kings (where she shared credits with Keanu Reeves, Hugh Laurie and Forest Whitaker); and Carlos (2010, directed by Olivier Assayas and starring Edgar Ramírez).
Born in Oaxaca, Mexico, Lila Downs began singing mariachi songs at the age of 8. She released her first album, Ofrenda (a collection of mixtec and Zapotec songs) in 1994. The music world began to pay attention to her unique voice and fusion of traditional Mexican music with other genres with the 1999 release of La sandunga, followed by Tree of Life (Yutu Tata) (2000), Border (La Línea) (2001) and the Latin Grammy-winner One Blood (Una Sangre). She appeared in the Salma Hayek-produced Frida and sang the Oscar®-nominated soundtrack song “Burn It Blue” on the Academy Awards telecast. Pecados y Milagros is her most recent album. Downs is also working on the musical theater adaptation of Laura Esquivel’s novel Like Water for Chocolate.
Tickets for the Special Premiere of Mariachi Gringo are $45 general admission/ $40 for ILCC members. Admission includes a special film screening and reception offering food, libations and live entertainment. Cocktail attire is strongly encouraged. Tickets are available for purchase at LatinoCulturalCenter.org or by calling (312) 431-1330.
The 28th Annual Chicago Latino Film Festival (CLFF) will be taking place April 13_26 and will feature over 140 feature-length and short films from Latin America, Spain, Portugal and the United States. All of the films will be shown in their original language with English or Spanish subtitles. The audience will also have the opportunity to participate in discussions with local and visiting filmmakers after most of the screenings. Other than the Special Events, the Festival will be held at the Landmark Century Centre Cinema (2828 N. Clark St.) and the Instituto Cervantes (31 E. Ohio St.).
SPONSORS
The 28th Annual Chicago Latino Film Festival was made possible by the generous contributions of sponsors and their continued commitment to the Latino arts in Chicago:
Platinum: American Airlines – Official Airline, Telemundo/NBC Chicago, and Univision Chicago
Gold: Chicago Latino Network, Chicago Tribune and Hoy, Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), JCDecaux, La Raza, Verizon Wireless, Victoria, and WTTW 11 Chicago Public Media
Silver: DePaul University, DHL – Official Express Delivery Provider, EC Charro Tequila, Lapiz, PGC Group – Official Printer, and Titan
Bronze: AARP, Baker & McKenzie, Chicago Reader, Chicago White Sox, Consulate General of Argentina in Chicago, Consulate General of Brazil in Chicago, Egeda Filmotech, Gozamos, Hispanic Executive, Lopez & Co, Mega 95.5, Coors, Prado & Renteria, State Farm Insurance, Tampico, Tristan & Cervantes, UNAM – USA Chicago and Valoramas.
ADDITIONAL SUPPORT
Additional support provided by: The MacArthur Fund for Arts and Culture at Prince, The Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, City Arts grant – City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, Illinois Arts Council – a state agency, and Nordstrom.
ABOUT THE FESTIVAL
In 1985, the Chicago Latino Film Festival began with 14 films projected onto a concrete wall for 500 viewers, and has now grown into the International Latino Cultural Center (ILCC) of Chicago, a premiere cultural organization. The ILCC is a pan-Latino, nonprofit, multidisciplinary arts organization dedicated to developing, promoting and increasing awareness of Latino cultures by presenting a wide variety of art forms and education including film, music, dance, visual arts, comedy and theater. Imperative to the ILCC mission is to increase cultural opportunities for the Latino community, as well as, create a cultural dialogue amongst Latinos and non-Latinos to discuss universal cross-cultural experiences.
The Chicago Latino Film Festival is produced by the International Latino Cultural Center of Chicago.